Those who’ve been playing fantasy football for a few years have seen an explosion in production by tight ends. More teams have guys with some receiving ability at that position, and they’re being used more than in the past.

Back in 2000, teams (on average) completed 53 passes to tight ends, for 556 yards and 4.4 touchdowns. In typical fantasy scoring, that’s 82 points in a season. (This is not for a team’s best tight end, but for all tight ends on each team combined).

For the most recent season, numbers are up by almost 50 percent – 19 more passes for 246 more yards and 2.48 more touchdowns.

TEAM PRODUCTION BY TIGHT ENDS
YearNoYardsTDPoints
2000535564.4082.0
2001495074.9480.3
2002545584.2881.5
2003545694.1381.7
2004596215.9497.8
2005616344.7892.1
2006596294.8191.7
2007646835.84103.4
2008657064.3496.6
2009717826.09114.7
2010717816.09114.6
2011657064.3496.6
2012748136.19118.4
2013758547.41129.8
2014728006.88121.3

—Ian Allan